An episode of the ‘Simpsons’ cartoon that references “forced labor camps” in China can’t be found on the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong, where artistic production is coming under increasing censorship.
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The second episode of the 34th season of the American cartoon The simpsons included the retort: “Contemplate the wonders of China. The bitcoin mines, the forced labor camps where children make smartphones, and the romance”. One Angry Lisawhich first aired on the platform last October, could not be viewed on Disney+ using a connection in Hong Kong but is available elsewhere.
It’s the second time in three years that the Hong Kong version of the streaming service has dropped an episode of The Simpsons satirizing China. The previously censored episode showed The Simpsons visiting Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the site of the deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and finding a sign there that reads: “On this site, in 1989, nothing happened past.” The Hong Kong government and Disney did not immediately comment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znRsyZqe-S4
Censorship
In 2021, Hong Kong passed censorship laws banning shows that might violate a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city. Since then, directors have had to cut parts of their films, while other productions have been banned from broadcasting. A Taiwanese documentary about female migrant workers was removed from the lineup of a Hong Kong film festival in October after its producers refused to remove a scene depicting a protest.
The censorship law does not cover streaming services, but authorities have warned that video-on-demand platforms are nonetheless subject to the national security law which concerns crimes of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Beijing has long denied accusations of torture and forced labor in the Xinjiang region (far west), but a recent United Nations report found the allegations credible.
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